Spending a Year at Kylemore Abbey: Clarkson's Farm - This engaging show offers a spiritual take, shedding little light on the mysteries of the abbey.
In the heart of County Galway, Ireland, a three-part documentary titled "The Hills Are Alive: A Year at Kylemore Abbey" is set to air on RTE One at 6.30pm this Sunday. Co-funded by Tourism Ireland, this series offers a captivating look into the daily lives of the Benedictine nuns residing at Kylemore Abbey, a historic tourist spot and biodiversity center in Connemara.
The documentary, far from being a musical or romantic portrayal as some may have initially expected, presents an intimate, realistic look at a community balancing faith, tradition, and modern business demands within the walls of a historic monastery. The nuns are seen maintaining and transforming their abbey, which was built in 1868 by Manchester textile magnate Michael Henry and taken over by the Benedictines in 1920.
The main focus of the documentary is on the nuns' religious life, tourism, and commercial activities such as cooking for visitors, making soap and chocolate, and gardening. The series highlights their principle of ora et labora (prayer and work), the challenges of sustaining a religious community amid declining vocations, the passing of their abbess, and the opening of a new retreat center.
Sister Genevieve Harrington, one of the nuns featured in the documentary, shares profound insights about love, life, and community. She states that love is a decision, not a feeling, and that it's the people God has placed you with, not the ones you would have chosen for yourself.
The documentary provides balmy, calming viewing as the weekend draws to an end, painting a picture of a cosy watch with gentle efficiency, not likely to send anyone's pulse sky high. The nuns are shown spending much of the week in silent contemplation, and when they do speak, it's during their regular board game nights or weekends.
Despite the quiet and introspective nature of the documentary, it settles into a formulaic groove, offering a meditative affair that invites viewers to reflect on the balance between faith, work, and heritage preservation in the modern world.
[1] Kylemore Abbey operated a girls school on the site until 2010. [2] The board game nights consist of Snakes and Ladders, not Warhammer or Secret Hitler.
[1] Even outside the realm of entertainment, the documentary delves into the past of Kylemore Abbey, revealing its history as a former girls' school that operated until 2010.
[2] Contrary to some expectations, the board game nights depicted in the documentary are not intense strategy games like Warhammer or Secret Hitler, but rather the simple and wholesome game of Snakes and Ladders.
